Red-rumped Swallow

Cecropis daurica

Order

Family

BTO 2

BTO 5

Euring 5

ILLUSTRATION

PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

UK Conservation Status

European Conservation Status

Conservation Description

The Red-rumped Swallow is a rare migrant in the UK, Isle of Man, and Ireland with 10 records per year on average. The conservation status for this species is "not assessed' in the UK because it only occurs as a rare migrant.

SUMMARY

Overview

Red-rumped Swallow: Swallow with a long, forked tail, brown-orange rump,nape, side of head, and front, and black-purple back and crown. Black tail, vent, and upper wings. The underparts are buff-white with brown-buff streaks. Short, grey-black bill and legs. Female like male but shorter tail, juvenile like female but much duller.

Range and Habitat

Red-rumped Swallow: Breeds in much of southern Europe and Asia, from Portugal to India, Japan, and parts of west and central Africa. Winters in regions of Africa and Australia, as well as Indonesia and the Indochina peninsula. Occurs year-round in India and Africa. A rare vagrant to the UK, it has been found in most regions and is likely to occur in April and May. Many habitats, from mountains and ocean cliffs to valleys and towns.

SONGS AND CALLS

Voice Text

"krr", "djuit"

INTERESTING FACTS

A group of swallows has many collective nouns, including a "gulp", "herd", "kettle", "richness", and "sord" of swallows.

Red-Rumped Swallows are frequent vagrants to the British Isles.

They occasionally will take advantage of grazing cattle and grass fires that flush insects into the air.

They will pick up flies from camel dung for food.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

FAMILY DESCRIPTION

Swallows (Hirundinidae)

ORDER

The swallows are one of the one hundred eighteen families of birds in the order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez); a large taxonomic order that includes waxwings, tanagers, finches, and swallows.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

A family distributed throughout most continents, the Hirundinidae (pronounced hir-un-DIN-uh-dee) are composed of eighty-eight species in nineteen genera (IOC World Bird List, version 2.3).

EUROPE

There are ten species of swallows in Europe in seven genera. European swallow species include well known birds such as the Barn Swallow and Common House Martin, and the less familiar Eurasian Crag Martin.

KNOWN FOR

The swallows are best known for their graceful, swooping flight and for nesting in barns, under bridges, and upon other human-made structures. The Sand Martin in particular is well known for nesting colonially in sandy river banks.

PHYSICAL

The long, pointed wings and streamlined bodies of swallows are evolutionary adaptations for their life in the air. These small birds have medium length to long tails that can be squared or forked in shape. Their bills are short with wide gapes, and their legs short with small feet.

COLORATION

Swallows come in variety of colours, although European species are often fairly dull overall with browns and white predominating. A few species, though, have upperparts with a bluish sheen, and reddish patches on the face and rump.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

This family is found throughout Europe except for Iceland and in the most inhospitable of tundra habitats. Swallows utilize a wide variety of non-forest habitats, but are most common around rivers, lakes, and wetlands that provide abundant food in the form of flying insects and nesting sites in the form of bridges, riverbanks, cliffs, and dead snags.

MIGRATION

Most swallow species are long distance migrants to Africa.

HABITS

Swallows are very social birds with many species nesting in colonies and foraging in flocks. Different species employ a variety of nesting techniques that include nesting in holes in the banks of rivers and lakes, in the hollows of dead trees, and mud nests which they build in caves, cliffs, and on structures such as bridges, barns, and buildings. Foraging for flying insects and other arthropods is done in the air with fast, graceful, swooping flight.

CONSERVATION

In Europe, no swallow species are threatened. This might be related to their preference for open, non-forest habitats, and their ability to nest on human-built structures.

INTERESTING FACTS

In North America, eastern populations of the Purple Martin became adapted to breeding in gourds set out by Native Americans before Europeans arrived. Eventually, they became so used to breeding in structures set up by people that these eastern populations have become reliant upon bird boxes for breeding and no longer use natural cavities as their western North American cousins still do.

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters
of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus)
and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante
(2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42
(Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported
by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990 s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and
expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html.
You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use
the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.